Road trip · Aysén, Patagonia, Chile

Carretera Austral

Puerto Montt → Villa O'Higgins

Pinochet's gravel highway through roadless Patagonia: ferry hops, hanging glaciers, marble caves, and condors wheeling over the whole thing.

770 mi · 8 days · best December–March (Patagonian summer) · $$

The route

ScenicEatStayDetour

Start, finish and every stop, pinned — turn-by-turn in one tap.

Relaxed pace

19h 15m

total driving

2h 24m

driving per day

miles per day

Driving times are estimates at a ~40 mph touring pace (stops, photos and traffic add to the clock).

The Queulat Hanging Glacier → Marble Caves boat leg is 180 mi (4h 30m) with no stop between — fuel up and plan a rest.
Fewer overnights are marked than the suggested days — plan where you’ll sleep along the way.

🚗 70 mi · ~1h 45m
1
Hornopirén ferries
Detourmile 70
Two boats and a fjord-locked village to even reach the road proper.
🚗 60 mi · ~1h 30m
2
Pumalín volcano trail
Scenicmile 130
Hike to Chaitén's smoking crater through regrown alerce forest.
🚗 70 mi · ~1h 45m
3
Futaleufú detour
Detourmile 200
Sixty kilometers off-route to the bluest whitewater river on Earth.
🚗 170 mi · ~4h 15m
4
Queulat Hanging Glacier
Scenicmile 370
A glacier pouring off a cliff lip, waterfall-first, into rainforest.
🚗 180 mi · ~4h 30m
5
Marble Caves boat
Scenicmile 550
Swirled blue marble grottoes on Lago General Carrera — morning light only.
🚗 150 mi · ~3h 45m
6
Caleta Tortel
Staymile 700
A town with no streets — only cypress boardwalks between fjord and forest.

🚗 70 mi · ~1h 45m

🏁 Villa O'Higgins

Ideal: suvMinimum: compactAWD helps but isn't requiredHybrid recommended

Mountain roads are more comfortable and surefooted in an SUV

Make it yours

Ask Arya to pace this drive around your DNA — where to linger, what to skip, and where to sleep.